Bike Friendly Richardson

We now have all the City Council candidate replies to our survey at the link below:

https://bikefriendlyrichardson.org/2015/04/14/2015-city-council-candidate-survey/

There is a city election coming up. Richardson residents must choose the office holders for City Council. The election will be held on May 9, 2015, but early voting will start on April 27, 2015.

As an advocacy group, Bike Friendly Richardson does not have any official endorsement for any of the candidates. However, as Richardson residents who bike, we were concerned about each candidate’s position on bicycling issues. We sent each a questionnaire covering several bicycling topics, and many of them sent in their responses. We will post those responses on our blog so that people who bike in Richardson can have a perspective of who they are voting for. Don’t forget to vote!

Here’s a link to the List of Candidates

In this post, we will hear from Rick Wilder and Bob Townsend, who are competing for Place 1, and Mabel Simpson (running against Claudia Tatum for Place 4); as well as unopposed candidates Paul Voelker (Place 5), and Scott Dunn (Place 3). Thank you for your thoughtful participation in our survey.

EDITED TO ADD: Claudia Tatum and Mark Solomon’s responses appear below.

EDITED TO ADD: Steve Mitchell’s responses have been added below. Steve explained in an email that he is in the tax business, and now that tax season is over, he was able to respond to the questions.

THANK YOU to all Council members and new Candidates!

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I just picked this up from the BikeTexas site. Looks like it will be interesting information – once I get a moment to sit down and read it.

From a quick flip through, looks like Dallas and Texas are included, but Richardson isn’t. As you may have guessed, it appears as if north Texas didn’t rate so well.

Click here to download the report from the Alliance for Biking & Walking.

Well, not officially. But we did get a link on the City of Richardson web site. Click here to see.

While your at it, you may want to shoot Dave Carter, Asst. Director of Development Services, Transportation and Traffic an email thanking him and the city for their efforts at making Richardson bike friendly. You can reach him at Dave.Carter (at) cor.gov or by phone (click on the letter on that page to get it). Some other names to keep in mind when it comes to Richardson transportation and traffic are David Morgan, Assistant City Manager, EA Hoppe, Assistant to the City Manager, and John Webb, Director of Development Services. I hope we can work together to make Richardson a safe city to ride.

ALSO, IF you meet any of these guys OR any of the folks from the Canyon Creek HOA and the Highland Terrace Neighborhood Association, give them some thanks for the cool bike lines on Grove and Custer.

Yes we haven’t officially launched, but you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. So, if you do any social networking or take great Richardson biking pics, please friend, follow and share with us.

I’ve been communicating with the folks over at Bike Friendly Oak Cliff and it looks like this is a go. We will officially launch this site on December 1, 2009. Until then, I’ve got to lock down a logo and come up with a game plan for moving forward.

Meanwhile, I’m looking for volunteers. If you are interested in helping out, just shoot an email to: bikefriendlyrichardson (at) gmail.com

Just had a few things in my head and wanted to put them down before I forgot. Here are my initial goals for Bike Friendly Richardson:

1) Follow in the parameters of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff to be a group of bicycle advocates promoting the creation of better cycling facilities and improved infrastructure in Richardson. Our focus is on the average commuter, and those wanting to ride for transportation and pleasure over sport.

2) Promote bicycle safety and inform riders about steps they can take to safely ride around town.

3) To generate detailed information of routes and maps to safely ride around town.

4) To give Richardson retailers an opportunity to support bicycle advocacy by becoming partners.

5) Eventually, develop bike friendly events (destinations) to bring the local cycling community together.

6) Eventually, develop a system of group rides that adhere to local and state laws and give cyclists an opportunity to safely promote cycling advocacy in Richardson.

More to come.

Carrying on the momentum and spirit of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff:

We are a group of bicycle advocates promoting the creation of better cycling facilities and improved infrastructure in Richardson. Our focus is on the average commuter, and those wanting to ride for transportation and pleasure over sport.

Bike lanes increase ridership.
Ridership increases awareness.
Awareness increases safety.